Forgiven
by ShortGirlWithAPen
Summary: Humanized! Rico remembers something he had forced himself to forget. Could one word convince him that he's not as bad as he thinks he is? Warning: rated T for a reason: mentions of violence, don't read if you're not into that. Has some angst.


**Disclaimer- I don't own Penguins of Madagascar or any of its characters!**

 **A/N: There is some violence/mentions of violence in this fanfiction, so if you're not into that, I highly suggest you not read it.**

* * *

Kowalski looks over at Rico, seeing the scar that had been there for as long as they've known each other. He vaguely wonders how it got there, as none of the others in the Penguins unit knew the story, or the full story, anyway. Rico stays focused on the invention that he and Kowalski are working on, which makes him look far more peaceful than he does normally.

By the time Rico looks over at Kowalski, he had turned his attention back to the invention. It's not long before they're finished with it, and Kowalski meets Rico's eyes, which usually show whatever emotion the younger man was feeling at the moment, but now just look tired in general.

"Hey, Rico, are you okay?" Kowalski asks, sure that some of his worry was in his voice. Rico nods slightly, looking away from the taller man. "What's going on?"

"Nothin'." Rico answers quietly, looking back up at Kowalski. "Just thinkin'."

Kowalski takes in the look on Rico's face, noticing the emotions rolling off of the weapons expert. They don't know how long they stand there with Kowalski standing in the way of the only exit in the lab so Rico can't try and run off before Kowalski speaks again.

"I know there's something wrong. No matter how much you try to deny that there's something wrong, I can always tell." Rico looks at Kowalski in confusion, causing the scientist to smile before continuing. "Your eyes.. they always show whatever emotion your facing." Rico looks down, trying to avoid the contact, trying not to let Kowalski know what he was really feeling. "You're thinking about it, aren't you? About before you were with us?"

"Yeah." Rico says, nodding slightly. "My friends? All of you? I don't think that's such a good idea."

That's when it all came back to him, the things he made himself forget several years ago.

 _"You do this, Rico, or you're gone." the woman had said, pointing at the woman in front of the two of them._

 _Lined up in a row in front of Rico and the woman was Rico's family and the two close friends he had. He saw his mother, always so gentle around him, especially when he was a young kid; his father who had always been kind and yet firm; his younger brother Puerto, who had a heart of gold and wouldn't be able to hurt a fly; his best friend since he was in preschool, who Rico had fights with for years which people thought were real but they were really just messing around; and Rico's other closest friend, who had come to the school he was ten, who had managed to calm the other two boys._

 _There was no way he could save any of them. It was either make sure they were gone or the woman would make sure they would watch him die, and there was no way she would make it quick._

 _And so he hurt his family and his friends, who were most likely the only friends Rico had for most of his life. Rico couldn't stand to look at himself in the mirror for a while afterward, couldn't face that monster who would no doubt meet his eyes. But that all changed when he was put in the Penguins unit- they said that he had been forgiven, but Rico didn't believe them at first. How could he even do that, especially so soon?_

"Rico," Kowalski says, pulling Rico out of his thoughts. "I know you're sorry about it. I know you'll never forgive yourself, but that doesn't change the fact that we care about you. Skipper, Private, and I, we do care about you." Rico finally looks back up at Kowalski, his hands trembling. Kowalski motions to the band Rico always wears around his wrist, with one word written on it. "You are forgiven. We all know you've apologized enough for it."

 _Forgiven._ The band should serve as a reminder to him; that's what it said, after all. Being forgiven? That definitely sounded nice. Maybe it was time Rico really started believing it.


End file.
